Skip to content
Through the end of the year, your gift is tripled by matching donors. Help power local investigative journalism in NY.
Elections New York State New York City

Oh, There It Is! Bronx Dems Fix Disclosure Failure After New York Focus Reporting.

The disclosures included over a dozen missing or incomplete reports covering a period of more than four years.

Sam Mellins and Chris Bragg   ·   October 22, 2024
The word "fixed" is overlaid on top of a Bronx city skyline with a background of $20 bills.
The Bronx Democratic Party reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed donations on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. | Images Money and Mike Cohen via Flickr + Brad Racino
Read the rest of our series on the hidden flows of money, power and favors behind the Bronx political machine:
Staying Focused
Sign up for our free newsletter, and we'll make sure you never miss a beat.
Tweet Share Email Link Republish

The Bronx Democratic Party reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously undisclosed donations on Friday following reporting from New York Focus that found the group had failed to disclose dozens of political contributions — a violation of state law.

A political action committee dedicated to electing Democrats to the state Assembly donated nearly $700,000 to the Bronx party, according to the new disclosures. The honorary chair of the committee is Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who represents part of the Bronx and is one of the most powerful figures in state politics.

State Senator and Bronx Democratic Party head Jamaal Bailey told New York Focus that the omission was due to “inaccurate record keeping.” He said that the party would improve its practices going forward.

“There’s no impropriety. There’s nothing wrong. We simply didn’t file when we were supposed to,” Bailey said.

The disclosure failure first came to New York Focus’s notice because the PAC — the New York State Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee — had reported sending more than $400,000 to the Bronx in 24 installments, but the Bronx party had never reported receiving the cash.

The new disclosures revealed the PAC was not the only undisclosed source of funds. The Bronx party also received five-figure contributions from sources like the New York Yankees and the industry lobbying group Phrma, as noted by Politico.

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie speaking at a press conference in 2021

Since April of 2020, the Democratic Assembly PAC has sent over $690,000 to the Bronx party. But for the 20 years prior (as far back as the public data goes), there are no records of the PAC donating to the Bronx.

Bailey said that money has been used for “party building” in the Bronx. Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz, who chairs the Assembly PAC and also represents the Bronx, has echoed that justification.

Neither Bailey nor Dinowitz offered a reason for why the transfers began in 2020.

Why hundreds of thousands of dollars are required for Democratic party building in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than ten to one is unclear. The Assembly PAC, chaired by Dinowitz and Heastie, did not give substantial amounts of money to any other county-based Democratic party in the last five years.

It also didn’t directly financially support Democratic Assemblymember Steven Englebright, who was defeated by a Republican in the 2022 election cycle, despite Englebright requesting help, he previously told New York Focus. The Democratic party did spend over $40,000 on his behalf by paying for polling and voter contact services.

Bailey denied that the Bronx donations deprived other candidates.

“The Bronx got resources, and other places got resources as well,” Bailey said.

Dinowitz did not respond to a request for comment on why the Assembly PAC sent over half a million dollars to the Bronx. He told New York Focus last week that despite being the chair of the PAC, he wasn’t aware that they’d sent money to the Bronx.

A collage of images showing the Albany Capitol building, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, and NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

“I’m not the person who signs checks. I’m not the treasurer, or anything like that,” he said at the time.

The Democratic Assembly PAC and its executive director, David Waterman, have not responded to multiple contact attempts.

Since New York Focus reported on the undisclosed funds, Bronx Democrats have submitted over a dozen new or amended filings to the state Board of Elections covering 2020 through 2024. The party filed multiple reports that had previously been entirely absent from public records, and disclosed expenses that had been missing from previous reports.

The state chief of election law enforcement, Michael Johnson, did not respond to questions from New York Focus asking whether he plans to investigate the years-late disclosures.

Correction: A previous version of this story reported that the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee had not financially supported former Assemblymember Steven Englebright. The committee spent over $40,000 supporting his candidacy.

At New York Focus, our central mission is to help readers better understand how New York really works. If you think this article succeeded, please consider supporting our mission and making more stories like this one possible.

New York is an incongruous state. We’re home to fabulous wealth — if the state were a country, it would have the tenth largest economy in the world — but also the highest rate of wealth inequality. We’re among the most diverse – but also the most segregated. We passed the nation’s most ambitious climate law — but haven’t been meeting its deadlines and continue to subsidize industries hastening the climate crisis.

As New York’s only statewide nonprofit news publication, our journalism exists to help you make sense of these contradictions. Our work scrutinizes how power works in the state, unpacks who’s really calling the shots, and reveals how obscure decisions shape ordinary New Yorkers’ lives.

In the last two decades, the number of local news outlets in New York have been nearly slashed in half, allowing elected officials and powerful individuals to increasingly operate in the dark — with the average New Yorker none the wiser.

We’re on a mission to change that. Our work has already shown what can happen when those with power know that someone is watching, with stories that have prompted policy changes and spurred legislation. We have ambitious plans for the rest of the year and beyond, including tackling new beats and more hard-hitting stories — but we need your help to make them a reality.

If you’re able, please consider supporting our journalism with a one-time gift or a monthly gift. We can't do this work without you.

Thank you,

Akash Mehta
Editor-in-Chief
Sam Mellins is senior reporter at New York Focus, which he has been a part of since launch day. His reporting has also appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Intercept, THE CITY, and The Nation. 
More by Sam Mellins Follow Email
Chris Bragg is the Albany bureau chief at New York Focus. He has done investigative reporting on New York government and politics since 2009, most recently at The Buffalo News and Albany Times Union.
More by Chris Bragg Email
Also filed in Elections
Why’s a Finance Titan Dropping $1 Million on Bronx Elections?

The whole thing is just — weird.

Sam Mellins
We Investigated the Bronx Democratic Party. Here’s What We Learned.

Our reporting spurred the disclosure of millions in spending and illuminated the networks behind the Bronx political machine.

Sam Mellins and Chris Bragg
Will Hochul Fight Trump’s Plan for ‘Mass Deportations’?

Trump is poised to ramp up deportation activity in northern states like New York, which has few statewide policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Chris Gelardi
Also filed in New York State
Rochester Cops Were Offered Training on Discredited Diagnosis Connected to Daniel Prude’s Killing

A newly obtained document sheds light on how the disavowed diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.

Chris Gelardi
New York State Council Issues Child Poverty Recommendations

An advisory group set up under a 2021 state law finalized its proposals to cut child poverty in half.

Julia Rock
In Brief: Why Has New York’s Prison Population Declined?

New York’s faster-than-average decarceration has led to dozens of prison closures.

Chris Gelardi
Also filed in New York City
New York City Delays the Most Workers’ Comp Insurance Claims in the State

The NYC Law Department, which runs the city’s insurance program, has been cited over 10,000 times for legal infractions each year since the pandemic.

Maxwell Parrott
The Bronx Community Foundation, Established to 'Eradicate Inequity,' Faces Turmoil

The foundation offered few explanations for its hefty spending on overhead, or what it’s doing with millions in government grants.

Sam Mellins
New York Isn’t Ready to Fight More Wildfires

New York could see more frequent and destructive blazes, but the state doesn’t have enough forest rangers and firefighters to respond to the growing threat.

Nathan Porceng